BOOK YOUR HOTEL

RENT A CAR

Travel Guide

Event Calendar

Delaware is home to fun festivals and year-round events, come discover what’s happening during your visit.

During spring, history comes to life with the family-friendly Dover Days Festival and the season blooms into colorful landscapes at the Mt. Cuba Center Wildflower Celebration. As the summer heats up, the East Coast’s premier music experience, Firefly Music Festival, brings big-name music acts to Dover. Then, summer celebrations continue with Fourth of July in the First State, featuring fireworks, concerts and more.

Fall brings high-flying action at the World Championship Punkin Chunkin competition, as well as witches and fiddles during the Sea Witch Halloween and Fiddler’s Festival. In October, get a taste of local wineries and breweries during the Delaware Wine and Beer Festival. To round out the year of fun events, during the holiday season, experience the du Pont mansions decked out in their holiday splendor.

December 14, 2013 – January 2, 2014

The Air Mobility Command Museum will host a holiday display of garden scale train layouts with three trains operating at the same time. Authentic sound and includes both diesel and steam-era trains. Open daily, free of charge.
More

Calendar of Events

Starting December 14, 2013

Take a tour and sample some Delaware Craft Beer! The best deal in town, for $5 you get the tour, samples of beer, and a pint glass to take home. Sample our signature beers, Hop Mountain and Fordham Copperhead, as well as the Delaware Beer Bracket winner, Oak Barrel Stout.
More

December 14, 2013

Visit a Civil War military encampment, ride in a horse drawn sleigh, learn about life on the home front during the War, listen to the Camp Band, visit Santa, listen to readings of T'was the Night Before Christmas,make a period tree ornament, and drink Wassail.
More

December 14, 2013

The "Barracks" and the Plank House both 18th century structures make up the Smyrna Museum complex. Tour these historic buildings decorated for the holidays and view the "Civil War in Smyrna" exhibit.
More

December 14, 2013

Holiday House Tour in Milton sponsored by the Milton Century Club. Find holiday inspiration and discover festive delights, rain or shine. Enjoy a Holiday House Tour that will include historic and modern homes and sites splendidly decorated for the holiday season. The tour begins at 2:30 pm and ends at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the tour and may be purchased at Antiques In Milton, 109 Union St., Hillside Flowers, 105 Lavinia St., Salon Milton, 517 Chestnut St.,…
More

A tale of two friends who couldn’t imagine life without each other – until one of them could and the once inseparable pair separate. Through the rich melodies of this heartwarming musical, the audience accompanies these two friends through their adventures, struggles, and discovery that love is what binds us together. Afterwards, see if you don’t find yourself Googling the name of some long-lost friend who you simply let fade away. Starring Ben Dibble and 2013 Tony Award…
More

December 14 – 29, 2013

"Taverns, Taprooms & Tippling Houses of Early New Castle" explores the history of New Castle’s early taverns that served travelers and others between the 1650s and the 1840s. New Castle had several taverns operating in the city at any given time. Most were located along Delaware Street and The Strand because those were the locations that were most convenient for travelers and people coming into town for court sessions. You'll meet the tavern-keepers and discover why taverns…
More

December 14 – 31, 2013

The Centennial Tea features our new centennial tea blend, created especially for the Hotel du Pont’s centennial celebration. This tea is infused with a burst of pineapple, the international symbol of hospitality, to commemorate our commitment for 100 years. Also featured at our Centennial Tea are various blends from the Delaware Art Museum and several DuPont Estates in the Brandywine Valley. Choose from Longwood, Winterthur, Hagley, and Nemours teas. Throughout the year,…
More

December 14, 2013 – January 5, 2014

American Moderns features 57 paintings and sculptures that highlight changes in American art and culture during the fascinating half-century from 1910 through 1960. The exhibition’s major themes include cubist experiments, images of modern structures, and stylized renditions of traditional subjects, such as landscapes and still life arrangements. The pictures feature a cast of engaging characters including a tattoo artist, a confidence man, boxers, and independent women.
More

December 14, 2013 – January 5, 2014

Participate in the long-standing du Pont family tradition of presenting small, handcrafted gifts to those you visit on New Year’s Day. Children and adults can learn about the tradition and make their own calling gifts on weekends. Included with admission. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Dec. 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-29 and Jan. 4-5
More

December 14, 2013 – January 5, 2014

On loan from the Birmingham Museum of Art, this unique exhibition features hand-painted portraits of individual eyes. In this late-18th-century art form, fragile watercolors were meticulously dabbed on tiny pieces of ivory ensconced in jewelry forms. Lavishly adorned with jewels, the portraits set into brooches, rings, lockets, pendants, small boxes, toothpick cases, most from England, are few in number. The collection the Skiers have assembled is considered the largest of its kind, with only…
More

December 14, 2013 – January 5, 2014

Experience traditions of the past and dazzling entertaining displays in this special wintertime tour. Whether you are taking in the breathtakingly decorated trees, the colorful and exquisite room and food displays, or the winter wonderland of the garden, Yuletide at Winterthur is sure to be a feast for your eyes. In addition to the magical Yuletide tour, a full series of special events, performances, and workshops will help to make your season bright.
More

December 14, 2013 – January 6, 2014

The latest major exhibition at Winterthur delves into how maps in the 18th and 19th centuries they were key to the American experience and became the social glue that bound a young nation into a community. The exhibition features traditional maps on paper rare and interesting map–related objects from Winterthur’s collection, illustrating American's changing interactions with maps.
More

December 14, 2013 – January 6, 2014

See the du Pont family ancestral home, Eleutherian Mills, dressed for the holidays. Check www.hagley.org/events.html for activities, such as carolers, sales at the Hagley Store, and other events. Closed Christmas.
More

December 14, 2013 – March 31, 2014

Seventy-five years ago on October 27, 1938, a brand new material named nylon was announced to the public. Created in DuPont’s labs, nylon replaced silk in the ladies hosiery industry. Nylon was so popular that its early sales created near riots because demand was so high. Hagley’s exhibition will discuss the early development of nylon and its impact on the fashion industry. Exhibition included with admission. The exhibition will be open through March 31, 2014.
More

On-Going Events

December 14, 2013

Familiar carols of the season starring Elisabeth von Trapp who also tells stories of Christmas traditions from her Austrian childhood and, acclaimed granddaughter of the "Sound of Music" family, with the Carolina Brass.
More

December 14, 2013

On the eve of America's entry into World War II, TIME magazine reported that to the German masses the United States meant "sky-scrapers, Clark Gable, and Artie Shaw." Some 42 years after that, in December 1983, Artie Shaw made a brief return to the bandstand, after thirty years away from music, not to play his world-famous clarinet but to launch his latest (and still touring) orchestra.Currently taking the director position is Matt Koza, a clarinetist /saxophonist who was born in…
More

December 14, 2013

A town-wide event that presents private homes and churches decorated for the season, plus musical events throughout the day. Free admission to the Amstel House, decorated for a traditional holiday celebration, and the Dutch House, which will feature a celebration of St. Nicholas' Eve. The event will benefit the Friendship House homeless ministries.
More

December 14 – 15, 2013

Enjoy the Holiday Museum Tours, the Rockwood Park light display and the melodious music by "The Singing Sisters" of Canaan Baptist Church and more. Don't forget to get a photo with Santa! This is a free event, however, to help those less fortunate, please bring a non-perishable food item or new mittens, hats, or scarves for the Giving Tree.
More

Based on the book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, 'The Sound of Music' is a not to be missed event for this holiday season. Enjoy the beautiful music composed by Richard Rodgers and lyrics that are written by Oscar Hammerstein II.
More